Pennsylvania State Rep. Patty Kim (D-Harrisburg) told PennLive Wednesday night that the school board and district cannot continue in this way. She indicated that she had called for a state takeover of the troubled district several months ago.

“I have watched to see if things would get better but the opposite has occurred,” Kim said. “The Department of Education has received my request for receivership several months ago. They have been open and helpful throughout. Students need their schools to be stable and nurturing. But the constant chaos with leadership is too much of a distraction for teachers and faculty. We have to go in a totally different direction.”

Under Pennsylvania law, the Education Secretary can petition the Common Pleas Court and ask a judge to assign a receiver. The education department can submit suggested names for the receiver, but the judge would be the one to make the final decision on naming the receiver. In districts already under state-supervision, like Harrisburg, the receiver could be the current chief recovery officer.

A receiver would have much more power than a chief recovery officer, who only makes suggestions and provides guidance to district officials. If the state takes over by appointing a receiver, the receiver would make all the operational decisions while the superintendent and school board take a back seat.

“A third party is the only way to push us forward,” Kim said. “My hope is to have a receiver in place by this fall. We need to reorganize leadership over the summer and allow students to experience a seamless transition at the start of the new school year.”

“I am becoming increasingly concerned by the actions of the Harrisburg School District with regard to transparency, personnel and fiscal management, academic achievement and the apparent lack of compliance with Department of Education directives,” he wrote in his letter.

District officials haven’t responded to requests for comments about the calls for receivership.

But Board Member Carrie Fowler, one of the loudest critics of current district leaders, said she is against receivership and would prefer instead that a new crop of school board members be seated after this year’s election.

“There is no gain to either the children or educators or the community with no community representation,” Fowler said. “The solution is flipping the board and allowing the new board members an opportunity to work with the chief recovery officer for change. We need a board of honest people with integrity.”

Fowler said the district is currently operating under “poor and questionable leadership, with a lack of transparency that causes great concern.”

The fact that district officials and the controlling school board majority have refused to allow state auditors unfettered access to records they need to complete an audit is a waste of precious resources, Fowler said.

“I have advocated since learning about this matter to open the books and move on,” she said. “What do we have to hide? This administration is refusing to cooperate with PDE, therefore they have suspended federal money for our children. This should make every resident in Harrisburg angry and question the devotion of the administration to do what’s best for our children.”